Worlds Away
by HolyMangos
Summary: Della's disappearance affects everyone, in one way or another.


**The first two chapters are basically here to introduce the main plot of the story. Admittedly, all the chapters I've finished so far have been rewritten over five times each. I'm finally working up the courage to post the first part of my first ever DuckTales fic (Woo-oo!). I hope you enjoy!**

 **A lot of mentions about what Webby and Dewey discovered during The Great Dime Chase.**

* * *

When Dewey Duck, _the_ Dewey Duck, one of three nephews to Scrooge McDuck and Donald Duck, _not to mention one of her best friends_ , snuck into her room to search through her things, Webby was curious to say the least.

She trusted her new best friends more than any others in the world already. However, even that considered, when one of them sneaks into her room to look through her tippy top secret files without so much as an _invite_ , Webby knew _something_ was wrong and that it was going to be an interesting day.

Her curiosity peaked even higher when she found out the reasoning for Dewey's not-so-secret search. (Honestly, if he wanted it to be a secret, he could have, at the very least, checked above him! _Always check above_.) Dewey wanted to know more about his mom. And despite the general weirdness surrounding Della's disappearance, Webby realized it was normal that Dewey craved knowledge about the woman who hatched him once upon a time. Even though she had moved on from her own birth history to focus on studying the Duck McDuck clan, sometimes, late at night Webby couldn't help but to ponder what happened to _her own_ parents.

It was different for them though. Webby's mom died young, she knew that part of the story. And somewhere up high in heaven, her moms still looking down on her _because she had truly loved her and_ , like granny always says, _still loves her now_. And Webby would forever have that peach and love despite the circumstances, not only from her mother guardian angel but from Beakley and her new friends too.

Dewey's mom was just _gone_. They didn't know if she was dead, barley clinging to life, missing or just bailed. Beakley wouldn't tell Webby the details, but Webby knew without a doubt something really bad had happened to Della Duck. Without that knowledge, the question of _what if_ probably snuck into Huey, Dewey, and Louie's minds all the time. With little information about what had happened to her, of course one of them would come to the duck family's mega super fan for answers.

Like she said, it was all normal enough.

What _wasn't_ normal was the secret room in the archives dedicated to Della's memory. Clues and treasures decorated the entire area with a star lit ceiling to top that masterpiece off.

And _oh sweet duck clan,_ when they had gotten access into that room, man, Webby had taken pictures of everything. Statues, photographs, letters, exotic pieces from adventures traveled long ago. She needed to know all that she could. Questions were being answered and she had a Della Duck file that needed filling!

"I gotta show Huey and Louie." Dewey had declared the minute they set foot inside. Webby nodded in silent agreement, all while snapping as many photos her camera could handle. Huey and Louie were gonna freak, but in the best way of course. This was probably like a dream come true for them, just knowing something about their mom's life. She couldn't imagine what Dewey was feeling!~

But then.. Dewey saw _the note_ and Webby said the wrong thing, and so two minutes after announcing how badly the room needed to be shown, he had decided the whole had to be kept a secret between the pair.

Webby had never been good at keeping secrets. When she was five years old, Launchpad ate a tray of her grandmother's freshly baked chocolate chip cookies (one of Mr. McDuck's favorite smells! She discovered today), and so _the second_ Beakley returned home, Webby screamed and hollered and tattled all while pointing in the pilot's direction as though her grandmother was blind to the cookie crumbs on his beak.

For a while after that, Launchpad nicknamed her the "cookie snitcher." It was a name that started off driving her crazy every time she heard it, but became an inside joke between the pair as she grew. " _There's the Cookie Snitcher."_ ** _"There's the Cookie Eater!"_**

Webby had never been good at keeping secrets, but she'd try. For Dewey.

And even though that letter.. _that dang letter.._. had been the most mysterious thing she had ever read in her eleven years of living, something just _begging_ to be furthered explored and analyzed with all three of her best friends, she'd wait to tell the others. She'd wait for Dewey to give her the _okay, we can tell them_ confirmation, which would come right after the two solved the mystery **solo**.

Webby used to solve a lot of mysteries by herself. Mr. McDuck claimed he was done adventuring after Della disappeared and Beakley, as tough as she was, cared more about Webby's safety than a desire to see the world, and so Webby had no choice but to solve mysteries herself.

They weren't the same kind of mystery's she'd solve nowadays though. Why did Glomgold Flintheart hate Scrooge McDuck so much? How far does the McDuck family go back? Why does Beakley want her to learn martial arts? Or why can't she go to school and make friends like a normal kid?

She never did solve those last two.

And as tough as it was, _as terrible as it was_ , to go from their big, happy group of adventurers to just Dewey and Webby for this case, she sucked it up. And she wouldn't bring up telling the others until Dewey was ready. Until Dewey _told her_ he was ready.

"Any luck?" The voice of a young duck, dressed in long loose fitting blue pajamas made his presence known behind her. (She didn't have to look to know what he was wearing. Months of movie nights had proved the triplets rarely ever switched up their night clothes.)

" _Nada_." Pencil placed loosely in her hair, for no real purpose other than just needing something else to do, Webby flipped through the camera's images _again_. Even though Dewey rarely acknowledged the note they read, she was grateful he was alright with letting her keep the photos. _All_ the photos.

"Seriously? There's nothing we missed?" Dewey sat beside her now. Eyes probably skimming the notes she had written, he tapped her shoulder.

 _If there was, I'm sure one of us would have noticed after the 50th check_. Webby almost wanted to tell him. She would never do that though, so, instead Webby scooted over towards him and pushed the papers even closer. "Sorry, Dewey..."

"Its okay, Webs. You and I just have to keep looking."

Webby sighed, but the action made her feel sick to her stomach. She didn't want Dewey to think she was annoyed with him (he was one of her best friends and she loved being able to help out!) However, even that considered... months of struggling over the same mystery with no new clues emerging and very few visits to the archives didn't look exactly promising. Webby was getting _tired_. But she knew it was important, so she'd push through.

Scrooge never talked about Della. The most she heard from him was muttered curses over some junk mail with the MIA duck's name on it. Other than that little slip up, Della's name had seemed permanently removed from his vocabulary. (Well... Webby had thought that until she saw _the room._ )

Webby wondered if Donald Duck grieved that way, too.

He probably didn't. After all, Mr. Duck didn't have as much alone time like Scrooge did. But regardless, Webby had never quite gotten the impression he had moved on. Heck, Scrooge hadn't either, but the old duck's newly rediscovered love of adventure overtook that pain right now. With Donald, you could see how _sad_ he was in the dark of the night when no one else was looking. How he clung to the triplets for a few seconds longer than most would during goodnight hugs; how he worried over their safety constantly; how even though ten years had passed and he _still_ couldn't be alone with Scrooge..

No, Donald Duck grieved differently. He had to mask it better for the sake of the triplets, but it was still there.

"Webby?" Dewey's calm and curious voice yanked her away from muddled thoughts, and within five seconds, Webbigail's head jerked up. " _Thought_ you were nodding off there."

"Sorry."

"It's no problem. Let's just keep looking."

And so they did. Because no matter what she thought best, she wouldn't tell anyone until Dewey was ready. She'd do anything for her best friends, even if it meant keeping secrets from two of them.


End file.
